That’s why FJS lawyers offer free storage and registration of your will on the Law Society of South Australia Will Register. Contact us now to get started immediately.
Why Is It Important to Store Your Will Properly?
When you store your will properly, you ensure that your wishes are safe. If your will cannot be found, your asset may be distributed in accordance with the intestacy laws.
Beyond the outright loss of a will, other events like damage, alteration, unauthorised access, and the existence of outdated copies can raise questions about a will’s validity. There may be delays or difficulties obtaining probate for the estate (Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will, identifying assets and distributing them).
What Are the Risks of Storing Your Will at Home?
You can choose to store your will at home, but is it worth it?
When you keep a will at home, the chances of tampering or unauthorised access to the document are the highest – because people who stand to gain have access to your home. This can lead to disputes among family members and challenges in court. It is important to know that informal or handwritten changes made by you can invalidate your will.
Another possibility to consider is whether your will can be found after you die. If you did such a good job of keeping your will safe at home, such that no one can access it after your death, then it could lead to delays in fulfilling your wishes or failure to fulfil them altogether.
Finally, a will stored by a lawyer has more credibility if the validity of the will is challenged.
Why Should You Store Your Will With a Lawyer
Guaranteed Security and Protection
Your lawyer doesn’t just help you draft wills; they also store them, and they likely know the best secure, fireproof, and disaster-resistant facilities for this purpose.
Confidentiality
Lawyer-client privilege guarantees that the contents of your will remain private and free from unauthorised access. This is not the case if you store your will at home.
Ease of Access for Executors
After your death, your lawyer will produce the original will and assist the executors with the Probate process so that your estate can be administered more efficiently.
Professional Oversight
You may need to make changes to your will over your lifetime due to life events such as having children or getting a divorce. It is important to know that marriage invalidates your will. When you store your will with a lawyer, they can help you to update your will.
Legal Proof of Custody
When you store your will with a lawyer, you create a chain of custody that helps to preclude any possibility of tampering or altering your will. There’s also less risk of unintentionally destroying or misplacing the original copy, which the court may see as revoking the will.
What Does the Law Say?
Although Australian law does not demand that wills be kept with a lawyer, the Probate court requires the original signed will before it can approve administration of the estate. If your will is stored with a lawyer, you can rest assured that the original copy will be available for Probate.
If the original is lost, what happens? In rare cases, a photocopy may suffice if there’s enough evidence that the original was not destroyed or lost to revoke it. Otherwise, the law treats a lost original will as revocation of the will.
Are There Alternatives to Storing Your Will With a Lawyer?
Now that we know that the best way to store your will is to give it to a lawyer, what are the alternatives?
Bank Safe Deposit Boxes
If you store your will in a Bank safe deposit box, it’s often secure, as no one can get to it without your approval. However, there are fees for storage and your executor may find it hard to access.
Home Safes
It’s easier to access a home safe than a bank safe, but it’s not as secure. Ideally, you should let your executor know how to access the safe so that they can start the process of making notifications and arranging probate as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Although there are several other options for storing a will, storing your will with a lawyer trumps them all. You’re guaranteed security, legal oversight and easy accessibility when you ask FJS Lawyers to store your will.